Conspiracy theorist David Icke is not allowed to enter the Netherlands, but says he is on his way to Amsterdam | Inland

Icke is registered as one of the keynote speakers during the Together for the Netherlands demonstration. The demonstration had already been moved by the municipality from Dam Square to Museumplein.

The organization has been ‘completely surprised’ by the news that he is not allowed to enter the Netherlands. “It’s downright outrageous. They call this the killing of free speech,” organizer Michel Rijenga told this site. ,, I did not expect this. We are very curious about the evidence on which the cabinet refuses him access.” The organization says it is looking at whether and which steps it can take against the decision.

Police union ACP, on the other hand, is relieved. “These kinds of events continuously have a significant impact on the police deployment. This meeting also poses a risk to public order. That automatically means an upscaling of police deployment. That in turn means that other police work and investigations are left behind and that there are delays,” says spokesman Maarten Brink.

A spokesperson for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) says that Icke has been reported and that the police can stop him for that reason.

Text continues below this Instagram post

The arrival of Icke has caused social unrest in Amsterdam and beyond in recent weeks. Icke popularized the theory of the elite as reptiles. Three counter-demonstrations were announced by, among others, the Israel Information and Documentation Center (CIDI) and a group of anti-fascists who wanted to voice a counter voice.

Samen voor Nederland has announced that the demonstration will also continue without David Icke. “In fact, I expect that even more people will now come to make their voices heard,” says Rijenga.

Because there is more space on the Museumplein, and the police have a better overview of different groups of demonstrators than on Dam Square, it has been decided to move the demonstration, according to the municipality. Together for the Netherlands does not agree with the decision. “It is a peace demonstration. As far as we are concerned, there is no better location than Dam Square”, says Mordechaï Krispijn on behalf of the organization. There will be a lawsuit tomorrow.

Last month, the Amsterdam triangle made a request to the organization of the demonstration to refrain from speaker Icke because of his ‘anti-Semitic and hurtful statements in the past’. But the organization did not respond.

The National Coordinator for Combating Anti-Semitism (NCAB) Eddo Verdoner previously pointed out that Icke is spreading ‘old anti-Semitic stories, wrapped in a new jacket’. The CIDI called his ideas ‘disgusting’. Almost all parties in the Amsterdam city council asked Mayor Halsema to prevent Icke from speaking. Halsema responded that – should Icke speak on Sunday – the Public Prosecution Service will ‘see the history of this speaker’ to check whether he is guilty of criminal or anti-Semitic statements. “If that is the case, the police will intervene.”

Together for the Netherlands demonstrates against a whole range of issues. Stop the war, stop the Rutte cabinet, stop the high energy bill: don’t pay anymore!, stop the permanent corona law, stop the European digital ID, stop the expropriation of farmers, stop the European dictatorship > Nexit a summary of the announced protest on the website of the organization.

Since the 1990s, Icke has been propagating a conspiracy theory that claims that humanity is secretly ruled by so-called reptilians, a powerful group of alien reptiles that pretend to be humans. According to critics, the reptiles are a metaphor for a (partly Jewish) elite who form an all-powerful secret world government and are active in all walks of life. Icke’s reptile theory has recently been proclaimed several times by FVD leader Thierry Baudet.

According to the Cidi, Icke is an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier. According to co-organizer Mordechaï Krispijn, a recent interview with the Brit shows that Icke does not deny the Holocaust and that Icke is therefore simply welcome in the Netherlands.

In 2011 and 2016, Amsterdam and The Hague barred the arrival of David Irving, another controversial figure accused of spreading anti-Semitism. Irving was convicted in Austria in 2006 for denying the Holocaust.